Walking Christmas 2013 (Book 1)

WALKING CHRISTMAS 2013 (BOOK 1) 1 INTRODUCTION In mid December 2013, Robin Webb from my church, asked if I could update our church website. This was a challenge to me but I gave it a go tryng to make a football based one look like a church one. One section I set up was to include about churches visited which gave me an idea whilst I was at church on Sunday 22nd December, could I visit a few churches over Christmas and take photos of them. I began my story on that day when I went to both in Shrub End and included the one at Brightlingsea as I saw it twice as I went past it on the bus and it was too far to walk out to see it. I did visit one in the town popping my head in the door. My story then continued on Christmas Day as I went past the Catholic church at the end of my road. My earnest quest for fame continued on Boxing Day. At this time I would like to give my thanks to the various websites that I have taken information and photos from, for personal use, and not for any monetary gains. The books trace my daily journeys and the order that I saw the various religious buildings. SUNDAY 22nd DECEMBER 2013 St Cedd’s Church, Iceni Way, Shrub End, Colchester The dual purpose church was built in 1955 and at a later date it was planned to do a church rebuild, but this never took place. There were very detailed drawings made of a major working around about the time when CCCP was set up, but these were well scaled down. However many years before this a house was built in the area of Eldred Avenue/Iceni Way for the curate to live in, but in recent years this has now been rented out. Richard Cooper recalled that to the left of the door at St Cedd’s Church, 2 as you enter the building from the car park, that the brickwork was left in a way, as that was where the building was to be extended around across the grass for the church to be built on, but that never actually happened. Now looking more to the modern times, one of the continuing problems around the roads in Colchester are the amount of potholes and the drive into St Cedd’s is the same, but thanks was given in the church magazine in late 2012 to Dave, John, Terry, Robin and Adrian who filled in the potholes. Also cleared away were the soak away drains. Inside the buildings there are various pictures and other wall hangings, one features “The Light of the World” this was donated by Win Johnson in memory of her husband and a “Last Supper” in the Committee Room/Chapel which was given by the Youth Group many years ago, after being bought by Colin King and his father Don. 3 We have already heard that St Cedd’s was built in 1955, and Barbara Stephens believed that the nearby Roman Catholic Church of St John’s was built around about the same time and we have shared numerous Good Friday Stations of the Cross services with them, either in their church or at St Cedd’s and in recent years at both. This she felt began in the mid 1970’s whilst the curate, the Reverend Chris Boulton was here who was part of the instigator. Personal view This is the church that I have spent most of my life attending until the recent years, it is place I did sidesman’s duties, bible reading, intercessional prayer, but since I now attend services in the main at All Saints at 8am service, I just visit to do my printing work on our church magazine and my other groups. On this December day, I was completing the church magazine. All Saints’ Church, Shrub End Road, Colchester 4 The church was designed in the decorate style by D R French, and the red brick church has a tower with a slated spire. It is situated on the very busy road junction, with the staggered crossroads, where heading from town, Shrub End Road crosses Gosbecks Road off to the left, and Straight Road to the right, with the Shrub End Social Centre opposite on one side and the Leather Bottle public house on the other side. From what I have heard in the past, the original All Saints was situated in the grounds of the Colchester Zoo and this was backed up by an article on the Zoo’s website. It said that the ruins of All Saints (the former parish church of Great Stanway) stand in the grounds of the Colchester Zoo. An excavation was made by an Archaeological Solutions in January 2005 that revealed that fourteen strips, CAT excavated thirty-four medieval inhumation graves on the site of the proposed new orang-utan enclosure. The graves are probably late medieval, and the absence of coffins indicates a low status. Other features include two ditches, which may sometime in the past have been graveyard boundary ditches. The human remains are to be reburied on site. 5 From information from the Colchester Business Forum it tells us about our current All Saints Church – it was by George Russell French 1844-45 to serve a new parish for the growing population of Stanway and Lexden. It was of hard red brick with Caen stone dressings. The nave, chancel and lower tower with splay-foot spire over the North porch. In the North end there was organ chamber which was added in 1883 and to the south end, a choir vestry in 1958 with the nave extended in the West in 1982. It had a plain exterior enlivened only by the carved label stops along the North side; those at the North West end are portraits of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip. Its fittings included reredos of marble and gold mosaic by John Hardman and Co. There are memorials to Edward Coope Fulcher who died in 1880, a stained glass window on the South side of the nave by Cox & Sons, 1878 a memorial to John Smith Dolby the first incumbent and another by James Powell & Sons memorial to Sunday School teacher, Edith M M Scarman who died in 1930. There was a wall monument to Thomas Joseph Turner of Little Olivers in Stanway who died in 1866 by L J Watts of Colchester. It was a significant church by a well-known architect who also had Essex connections, with addresses in Wanstead and Leytonstone. 6 In the local history report, it included a piece of the house building within Colchester and it mentioned this area - Although the majority of houses built in Colchester in the early 20th century were private the council did build some houses in the 1920s. In the 1950s the council built estates at Shrub End and Monkwick. In the 1950s the army built the Montgomery estate. In the 1960s the council built Greenstead estate. Private houses were built on the St Johns estate in the 1960s. In the 1980s private houses were built at High Woods, North of the town. Over the years there have been several memorable events in the church, there was in the Flower Festival in 2004, but an earlier one had been held in 1976. A year later a resident of the area, Len Woodrow, became the town mayor, and a dedication service was held for him there. Also that year the choir were pictured outside the church door, where a figure head of the Queen and Prince Philip were fixed either side of the door in honour of their Silver Jubilee. 7 St James, Victoria Place, Brightlingsea The church is at the heart of the main town street and linked in with All Saints too. All Saints, Brightlingsea All Saints Church stands on a hill top on the approach road into Brightlingsea approximately one and a half miles from the town centre. It was built around 1250 comprising of the present Chancel, two thirds of the Nave with two small Chapels. This construction incorporated part of an earlier building and a great deal of Roman brick. In the wall to the west of the south door there is a round headed recess incorporating roman brickwork, which probably dates from the early Norman period. In the late 15th century the Tower, one of the finest in East Anglia, was built to the west of the Church. It is 97ft. high and was built in three stages containing a minstrels gallery at the lower level, the “Deputy's” and ringing room holding the ringing frame of the peal of tubular bells, and highest of all the bell chamber. 8 This is home to the original but much altered bell cage which houses the two remaining bells. The roof of the tower, which is accessible once or twice a year, provides panoramic views over a vast area. Once the newly constructed tower had settled the Nave was extended by two bays to meet it. The Baptistery, located under the Tower, contains a fine Tudor font with traces of the original colour and the large original West Door. Also in this area are two rare dummy board figures of Moses and Aaron. The Vestry was built in 1518 and the North Chapel enlarged by the Beriffe family circa 1520. The original Nave roof and Clerestory collapsed in 1814 and in spite of hard work and a national collection it could only be replaced by the present pitched roof.

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